Suffering from allergies and busy with visitors, my Best Food Friend, Eric decided to step up and send me a cool post. All while rubbing in what an awesome time he was having in NYC and all the great food they were enjoying on their visit! It’s ok, I will get him back!

Based on the allergy situation of our CCtoMB host, I figured this might be a good time to fill in with some food posts. I hope Steph’s readers find it enjoyable, or at a minimum, tolerable. In addition to this Smorgasburg post, I should have some half interesting blurbs coming your way talking about David Chang’s ramen place, Momofuku Noodle Bar, a pasta dinner at Mario Batali’s Babbo, some pretty looking and pretty amazing desserts and some riveting research I performed firsthand on 4 of the best bagel shops in Manhattan. I’ll make the bagel one semi-interesting, I promise.

I was lucky enough to be able to take my wife to Manhattan for a week. As daunting as navigating NYC can seem, I really find getting to places there fun. The Subway, The Ferries, and, of course, Taxi’s are all relatively easy to negotiate. Granted, I am on vacation and don’t live or work there which makes it easier of course. Being from Chicago originally, in some ways, it reminds me of home. You could be on vacation for a year in NYC and never run out of great and interesting places to eat. Next time I go I will definitely be spending more time in Brooklyn.

On the last day of our trip we headed to Williamsburg Brooklyn, via ferry, to what’s known as Smorgasburg. Pretty much Food Nerd Heaven. Depending on the day, summer time draws more vendors, there will be somewhere between 75 – 100 food vendors selling everything from Ramen Burgers, Mac & Cheese Sandwiches, Fried Anchovies, Chicken & Waffles, Macarons, Pecan Pie, Milk Shakes, Lumpia, Porchetta, BBQ, Beignets…. And the list goes on. I am a fan of Mario Batali, although I don’t watch the show The Chew. Below is a clip from his visit there.